Hotel Baía Cristal Beach & Spa Resort

Good, basic

Localization, but it was by car. I didn't saw way to reach there by public transports. Have some good restaurants close (1km) to the hotel. The hotel is spacious as well the room. The pool looks like clean and they have alcohol gels in several points.

Lots of things. First of all, I thought it was a 4 stars resort, it's not true..the mattress is old and hard, it was impossible have a shower without drop water in entire bathroom and the room, and we talked about it in the reception and no one did nothing. The room floor is made by tiles which make very cold and we never have a carpet. The advertise said that we'll have coffee machine or kettles inside but we didn't this facility in our room, we talked in reception and they ignored. The towels (room + spa) are old, the breakfast was poor, the croissants looks like old as the cake, and I wish they have fresh coffee and orange juice, but only machine 🙄 it is a 4 stars resort, right?! I didn't feel welcome you know, I felt like the staff was doing a favor to me.

Not up to my expectations

The cleaning and bar staff were very nice. The front desk staff were not as nice. The garden is beautiful.

The hotel looks way better in the pictures. It felt like going back to the 70s and not in a good way. It was really expensive and I expected great accomodations, but everything looked old and dated. The room had a moldy smell and it wasn't sound proof so privacy was a huge problem. I am definitely not planning on coming back.

Passable

There was a good selection of food on the breakfast buffet. The hotel is pretty much situated in the middle of the Algarve allowing you to visit both the East and West sides.

The rooms are a little out-dated and feel quite cold. We've had an issue with the electricity relay (the thing where you put the room key in to turn the electricity on) where it wouldn't stop clicking. We went to the reception to report this and we were informed that maintenance would stop by and fix it. Three days later upon checking out, it had still not been fixed.

This place is a TRAP!...

Nothing

Rude staff. Uncomfortable bed and pillow. Not follow the booking agreements ( they don’t provide the service you pay for). Not at all what they show in the pics. Old and dirty hotel.

Pleasant

Location

The cleaning was deficent

Far too expensive!

The little distance to the beach, top floor room with sea view, big window, small units with not too many rooms

The door of the room did not open completely, the door to the terrasse did not close (unless you locked it), the ventilation in the bath did not work, it either came boiling hot water or ice cold water out of the shower, the shower head in the corner for 50 Cent, the switch to shower was broken, too much chlorine in the pool, old pool filter which did not take the many hairs out of the water. The hotel needs a complete renovation. Unbelievable, how much money the owners do without any major investment in the last 50 years.

The hotel is at an amazing location. The Beach Vale de Centeanes is just 5-10 min away from it, the stairs is not too steep, it's quite a comfortable walk. I recommend this beach wholeheartedly, there is a nice restaurant there open for lunch and dinner, sunbeds and umbrellas. the water is very clean compared to other beaches. The hotel has a rather big territory, next to the cliffs, and the views from those are stunning. We enjoyed the walk along the cliffs (better early in the morning or on a less hot day!). The staff was very friendly and ready to help, we appreciated that. On the first night we had a buffet dinner, the quality was decent, it was a good option when we were tired and not ready to go anywhere else. Our room was spacious and with a sea view which made every morning special. There is a free parking at the hotel - if you are travelling by car.

The first unpleasant surprise was during booking. When I was making a reservation I proceeded with one price, however once the reservation went through, the price was 200 EUR higher than the original one. I contacted booking to get the original rate. Neither booking nor the hotel could identify what happened and they kept the rate as it was. It may be worth videotaping your reservation process. Nevertheless we could have had an excellent stay if we hadn't had so many issues with hotel facilities during our stay. Right from the start the flush in the toilet was not working well. Two-three days later it stopped working completely, which we reported to the hotel in the morning with some sense of urgency. Having come from the beach in the afternoon, we found out that the toilet was still not working - so we had to call the reception again. Only then the hotel sent a plumber who fixed the issue. One day there was no cold water in the room, so we couldn't take a shower or drink some water. Again had to call the hotel, the issue was fixed pretty quickly. We felt that there was just too much need to call the reception throughout the stay. I would much rather not bother the staff and myself with those issues. It's definitely the problem of old facilities, not so much the staff - but happening repeatedly, those issues became annoying. Cleaning was not great either. The staff has never washed cups in the room, one day we were left without shower gel - again had to call the reception late at night. We stayed in the hotel while the COVID-related restrictions were in place. Before booking I contacted the hotel to ask what services were unavailable during these strange times, but we had not been warned that there was no shuttle to Carvoeiro (lucky us, we had a car!) and that the laundry service was not working. Those were unpleasant surprises.

Beautiful location, value for money...

The hotel is at an amazing location. The Beach Vale de Centeanes is just 5-10 min away from it, the stairs is not too steep, it's quite a comfortable walk. I recommend this beach wholeheartedly, there is a nice restaurant there open for lunch and dinner, sunbeds and umbrellas. the water is very clean compared to other beaches. The hotel has a rather big territory, next to the cliffs, and the views from those are stunning. We enjoyed the walk along the cliffs (better early in the morning or on a less hot day!). The staff was very friendly and ready to help, we appreciated that. On the first night we had a buffet dinner, the quality was decent, it was a good option when we were tired and not ready to go anywhere else. Our room was spacious and with a sea view which made every morning special. There is a free parking at the hotel - if you are travelling by car.

The first unpleasant surprise was during booking. When I was making a reservation I proceeded with one price, however once the reservation went through, the price was 200 EUR higher than the original one. I contacted booking to get the original rate. Neither booking nor the hotel could identify what happened and they kept the rate as it was. It may be worth videotaping your reservation process. Nevertheless we could have had an excellent stay if we hadn't had so many issues with hotel facilities during our stay. Right from the start the flush in the toilet was not working well. Two-three days later it stopped working completely, which we reported to the hotel in the morning with some sense of urgency. Having come from the beach in the afternoon, we found out that the toilet was still not working - so we had to call the reception again. Only then the hotel sent a plumber who fixed the issue. One day there was no cold water in the room, so we couldn't take a shower or drink some water. Again had to call the hotel, the issue was fixed pretty quickly. We felt that there was just too much need to call the reception throughout the stay. I would much rather not bother the staff and myself with those issues. It's definitely the problem of old facilities, not so much the staff - but happening repeatedly, those issues became annoying. Cleaning was not great either. The staff has never washed cups in the room, one day we were left without shower gel - again had to call the reception late at night. We stayed in the hotel while the COVID-related restrictions were in place. Before booking I contacted the hotel to ask what services were unavailable during these strange times, but we had not been warned that there was no shuttle to Carvoeiro (lucky us, we had a car!) and that the laundry service was not working. Those were unpleasant surprises.

The pool and surroundings was very pleasant.

Spiderwebs on the bedroom. I guess room with an ocean view it’s applicable as long as you can see the ocean far away...

The area outside the room is very nice, especially in summer.

The breakfast was very poor, not only not tasty but also not applicable for a 4 stars hotel. Outside the room, at the very entrance to the room, was some water leak. That annoyed us since we have a stroller and small kids we had to pick them up. After four times we complained, the water was cleaned up. The hotel has too many stairs, so if you plan to go there with kids in strollers, you would need to reconsider. There was no water boiler in the room to make a coffee or tea. The safebox was very old with no lock at all. You have to rent it.

Locations is great, close to the beach, and a 15 mins walk to the nearby town. The staff is nice too

Everything is old, the mattresses are uncomfortable; the door to the room makes noise... it really needs some renewal, this place

Location was great, walking distance from the beach and the city.

On Friday there was a bbq around the pool. On Saturday as it was the las day we decided to spend some hours at the pool. A staff was washing the area around the pool and throwing the dirty water inside it

n/a I did not enjoy my stay at the hotel

This is not a 4 star hotel my an means - the wallpaper is peeling off. They use shopping carts for the cleaning, old manky sofas in the halls. The staff are unbelievably rude and unhelpful - I would recommend staying in any of the much nicer hotels in the area as the beach is nice, unfortunately the hotel is not.

The beds are uncomfortable. I complained, but to no avail.

location, amenities, staff and value for money

not maintained, breakfast was not fresh